A Land Use Ordinance (or a “LUO”) is an integrated set of laws governing the use of land within the corporate limits of the Town. This may also be referred to as a Unified Development Ordinance ("UDO") in other communities. The LUO establishes the kinds of land uses that may be permitted, where those uses may be permitted, the process used by the Town to consider requests to establish allowable uses, how uses and land development activities may be operated, how sites and site features supporting land uses are to be configured, and how violations of the Town’s land use rules are determined and addressed. In addition to the written rules, the LUO also includes the Official Zoning Map, or the graphic distribution of zoning districts (and thus allowable use types).

The Town’s adopted policy guidance is a set of goals, objectives, and policies for future land use and development in Carrboro. It represents a generally agreed-upon or shared vision and direction for the future. Adopted policy guidance is based on sound research and practice that seeks to understand current needs, project those needs into the future, and make recommendations about how to optimize future outcomes based on shared desires and goals. The primary piece of adopted land use policy guidance in Carrboro is Carrboro Connects, the 2022-2042 Comprehensive Plan. This document expresses the Town’s vision for its future in terms of land use and outlines the goals and actions necessary to realize this vision. Also included in the Town’s adopted policy guidance is the Community Climate Action Plan, Bicycle Transportation Plan, and the Language Access Plan.

The Comprehensive Plan is an overall plan adopted by the Town to create a future vision and guide the development of the Town for the next twenty years. It provide goals and actions to be taken by the Town in order to implement the vision delineated in the Plan.

The Land Use Ordinance is the rules and regulations specifically written to guide development in Carrboro. It is one of the legislative tools used to implement the vision and actions in the Comprehensive Plan.

The main difference is the Comprehensive Plan is GUIDANCE and the Land Use Ordinance is LAW. They are related in that the laws in the LUO are are shaped by the guidance provided in the Comprehensive Plan.